BPSC Combined Competitive Exam (CCE) Syllabus & Exam Pattern
The Bihar Public Service Commission’s Combined Competitive Examination (CCE) runs in three stages: a Preliminary screening test, a Main (written) examination and an interview. Here’s the structure and the subjects each stage tests, with a link to the official notification for this cycle’s exact marks, timing and vacancies.
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The stages
Preliminary examination
One objective General Studies paper that works only as a screening test. Its marks are not counted in the Main examination or the final merit list; candidates in a fixed multiple of the notified vacancies are called for the Main examination.
Main (written) examination
Descriptive papers: General Hindi (a qualifying paper whose marks do not count for merit), General Studies Paper I, General Studies Paper II and an Essay, plus an optional-subject paper. For some posts (such as Child Development Project Officer, Financial Administrative Officer and Sub-Divisional Protection Officer) the optional paper is a full descriptive paper that counts for merit.
Interview
Candidates who clear the Main examination are called for a personality test. The final merit list combines Main examination and interview marks.
What’s tested
Preliminary: General Studies
General science; important national and international current events; the history of India and of Bihar; general geography, including Bihar’s main physical divisions and important rivers; the Indian polity and economy; major changes in Bihar’s economy since independence; the Indian national movement and Bihar’s contribution to it; and general mental ability.
Main: General Studies Paper I
Modern Indian history and Indian culture; current events of national and international importance; statistical analysis, graphs and diagrams.
Main: General Studies Paper II
Indian polity (including Bihar’s political system); the Indian economy, including planning; the physical, economic and social geography of India and Bihar; and the role and impact of science and technology in development.
Main: General Hindi
A qualifying paper at secondary-school level that tests clear, correct expression in simple Hindi: essay, grammar, sentence construction and précis writing.
Main: Essay
A descriptive essay paper, listed as a separate Main paper in the 72nd CCE notice.
Main: optional subject
One subject chosen from the list in the notice, which covers sciences, engineering, commerce and accountancy, economics, geography, history, law, mathematics, philosophy, political science, psychology, public administration, sociology, statistics and several languages and literatures.
The exact marks, number of questions, timing and negative marking are set by each cycle’s own notification (the 72nd CCE notice of 5 May 2026 is the latest), and the Commission can revise them. Treat the subjects above as the stable shape to study toward, and check BPSC’s own website.
See the exact marks, timing, negative marking, age limit and cut-offs for this exam →
What the CCE recruits for
The 72nd CCE notice lists posts such as Sub-Divisional Officer / Senior Deputy Collector (Bihar Administrative Service), Deputy Superintendent of Police, Assistant Commissioner of State Tax, Revenue Officer, Municipal Executive Officer, Block Panchayat Raj Officer and Supply Inspector. Child Development Project Officer, Financial Administrative Officer and Sub-Divisional Protection Officer posts are filled through the same Preliminary test. The post-wise vacancy table is in the notice.
What Pariksha Saathi offers for BPSC
Free topic-wise lessons and practice for the General Studies side of the Preliminary examination: history, polity, geography, economy, environment, general science, art and culture, plus Bihar General Knowledge.
Official source & latest updates
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